


Day 11

by galvelociraptor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, Snakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 18:37:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16372889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galvelociraptor/pseuds/galvelociraptor
Summary: Prompt: “this is totally awkward considering before this the only interactions we’ve ever had have been casual nods to each other in the hallway but there’s a huge fucking spider in my bath tub and you seem like the friendly neighbor type please help me” au





	Day 11

Draco wasn’t sure what to think about Harry Potter living in the same building as him.

For one thing, it was a fairly expensive building, even if it was close to the Muggle side of London.

For another thing, he hadn’t really run into Potter, except once when he had come home one night, and Potter was leaving. He had held the door for Draco, said ‘Good night’, then vanished into the fog.

Draco was reluctantly intrigued.

What the fuck could the Savior of the Wizarding World be doing out after dark?

*

This could not be happening, Draco thought, panicking.

The giant thing in the bathtub twitched a little, and Draco let out a high-pitched scream.

Fuck it. Desperate times and all that.

A few minutes later, he was downstairs and standing outside Potter’s door. Draco wasn’t sure if he hoped Potter was home or not.

“What do you want, Malfoy?”

The door had opened a crack while Draco had been dithering.

“Um. I…no, never mind.”

“Are you sure?” Potter asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Draco thought back to the creature in the bathtub, screwed his courage to the sticking place, and said,

“I heard you dealt with acromantulas at one point.”

Potter stared at him.

“I…did, but what the fuck?”

“There’soneinmybathtubandit’sthesizeofakneazle,” Draco said in a rush.

“What, really? I thought they were only found in like, forests and shit.” Potter stared at him, clearly waiting for Draco to laugh. “You’re serious?”

Draco nodded.

“Well, I guess I can try, but I’m not sure how much help I’ll be…actually, can you wait a moment? I have an idea.”

Draco stood, frozen on the stoop, as the door closed in his face. His shoulders slumped. He had been expecting too much.

A moment later, the door opened again, the doorchain swinging slightly.

“Well, come in, if you want. It’ll be a few minutes.”

Draco stared.

“Cuppa?”

“Yes please,” Draco said in a strangled tone.

Potter bustled into the kitchen, pulling down mugs, tea, and various accessories, before setting a mug of tea in front of Draco. He also included a timer, which Potter said was actually ‘counting up, I don’t pretend to know how you take your tea,’ but after he had disappeared into another room, Draco realised that not only was the tea exactly the way he liked it, there were also his favorite biscuits and cucumber sandwiches on the plate.

The tea was actually astonishingly good, given that it was bagged and not loose. Draco considered asking Ha—Potter for the name of it.

About ten minutes later, Potter came back into the room, but he wasn’t alone.

Draco stood up in alarm, jostling the table and almost causing his remaining tea to slosh out of his mug.

“It’s ok, String Bean is a friend.”

“String …Bean?”

“Teddy named her,” Potter said, coloring slightly. He was absently stroking the snake’s head, which was roughly the size of his palm. The rest of the snake's body was coiled loosely around his other forearm.

“I thought…” Draco gestured at the snake.

“Actually, Hermione thought I could probably re-learn it pretty easily, and she was right.” Potter shrugged. “I always liked snakes.”

“You’re a Gryffindor, what the fuck?”

“I was almost a Slytherin. Didn’t you read my ‘unofficial biography’?” Potter said impishly.

“The rest of it was such horseshit I figured that was just put in there to rile up the ‘Claws and the ‘Puffs.” Draco thought for a moment. “And the diehard Gryffs,” he added slyly.

“Nope, that bit was true.”

“I see,” Draco said, for something to say, because he was imagining growing up in a dorm with Harry Potter and he wasn’t sure he would have survived.

“Well, String Bean agreed to help out, and she’s actually hunted acromantulas before, so…shall we?”

“Yes, uh, let’s. Uh…Potter?”

“Call me Harry, please. Potter is what my boss calls me when she’s angry at me,” Harry said affably.

“H-harry, then. Thank you,” Draco said, hesitantly.

“Sure. It’s not every day one gets to face down acromantulas for a cute boy who lives in the same building as you.”

Draco was frozen to the spot as Harry strode out of the apartment, String Bean now slung across his shoulders.

**Author's Note:**

> One of the days of fic from my NaNotWriMo 2016. (I called it NaNOTWriMo because I had no intention of writing 50K, and indeed I didn't.)


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